Return to: Staff  Springerville

Hi! My name is DeDe Sipe. Although I have been a long time supporter of Living Hope Women's Center, I have recently started working as a Client Advocate in the Springerville Center. The reason I love LHWC is because we are able to help and minister to many women who are in need of support during pregnancy, parenting their children, or who need healing from their past. I needed a place like LHWC when I was 16 years old.... but there was no place available at that time. I was faced with an unplanned pregnancy at that age . I could go into a lot of details about how I found myself in this position, but lets just say I was looking for love, and acceptance in all the wrong places! When I realized I was pregnant, I really didn't know what to do. I didn't want to have an abortion, but also knew I wasn't capable of parenting a child at my age. The best alternative for me was to place my child for adoption. At that time all adoptions were closed, so I never knew where my baby was, or who had adopted my child. My mother did have a contact who knew the couple that had adopted that child though, so occasionally I would get an update saying the child was doing well, & the family was happy. This gave me some peace, but never satisfied the longing in my heart to know my child.
  When I was 20 I married my husband, & over the next few years we had 2 beautiful daughters. We were happy, and having my daughters brought a lot of fulfillment & joy to my life. By this time serving God was a major part of me, and I worked really hard to heal from my past although there weren't many resources available that I knew of. I read books, did bible studies, but seemed not able to get over the loss of my child even though I knew I had made the best decision for both of us. I did not know for sure, but always thought of my child as a girl. Every birthday was especially hard. I would try to imagine what she looked like, if she had my personality.... I would see kids her age and wonder if that was her. Anyway, when I was 33 years old I got a phone call from my mother saying that the adotive parents had contacted her, and that my DAUGHTER wanted to meet me!! I was so excited and scared, but it was the answer to many prayers. That is how Stacy became a part of our family. We have known each other for 17 years now and we have 3 beautiful grandchildren from her & her husband. We also have 2 beautiful grandchildren from one of our other daughters. Although I know that the decision I made to place my daughter for adoption was right I believe that if I had had LHWC in my life things would have been much easier on both of us. Adoption is a wonderful option that gave my daughter a mother and a father who could meet her needs in a way that I could not. LHWC works with a wonderful agency, Christian Family Care, to facilitate adoptions. Every girl who makes an adoption plan can choose from a completely open to a completely closed adoption. This gives our girls the power to choose her baby's parents and decide how much contact she will have.